Get the body of an Olympic Rugby 7s player

Dan Norton made history today when he became the first British Rugby 7s player to ever score a try at an Olympics. He wasn't the last: the try opened the floodgates for a 31-7 victory over Kenya, momentum they'll hope to take into the clash with New Zealand today (4:30pm).

The top winger's power and speed have impressed coaches and fans alike. Last month MH sat down with Norton, who was preparing for the Rio Games, and asked for his workout, nutrition and fitness tips:

With a 40m PB of 4.78 seconds and 205 tries for England under his belt, Gloucester native Dan Norton is gearing up for Olympic gold. Locked down at Twickenham for last-minute training, Norton sat down with MH to discuss his preparations for victory.

You don’t have the traditional barrel chest or tree-trunk legs of the average rugby player. What have you had to work on?

Sevens players have to be confident in all areas of the sport. Recently, I’ve had to improve my contact and breakdown skills. In terms of tackling, it’s horses for courses. Low-level stuff we do on pads, then we go onto live stuff once we have our technique down, which can take 18 months.

How do you maintain your speed?

I need strong, powerful legs. I enjoy training them because you see the immediate effect of being able to push heavy weights and jump high. Most training is mixed-body sessions. We tend to do hang cleans with two or three reps of 120kg, followed by power cleans. We’ll do a series of two-footed hurdle bounds or a walking box jump to develop height. We then do heavy squats of a couple of reps lifting from 150-180kg.

What does your diet look like as you gear up for the Olympics?

Normally breakfast is half and half muesli and porridge, about 70g in total, with almond milk and berries, a protein shake with carbs and creatine capsules, plus a matcha tea. That’s at 7.30am. We eat again at 11.30-12pm and 5pm. Our meals are all catered to our own dietary needs but sweet potatoes invariably feature highly. I’ll also have a second protein shake after training and I take omega-3, multivitamins and beta-alanine, which helps stop lactic acid build-up. For dinner I have 40g of protein – about two chicken breasts – plus carbs and vegetables before ending with a late snack. In answer to your question, it looks like a lot.

How long do you think you have left in the game?

Overall, players aren’t just getting bigger and stronger, but fitter and faster, too. What matters is how long you’re able to do the job and do it well. At the moment I’m still there,
or thereabouts. Hopefully, I’ve still got a bit of time left in my legs.

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